The Misty Forest
by PKAquaFlame
Summary: Somewhere there is a forest that is covered with a thick purple mist. You must never go into this forest, for those that do meet a terrifying fate...Based off of Purple Forest.


Disclaimer: I own nothing.

This came from a creative writing assignment. The professor wanted us to write a ghost story, and I was stuck until I started listening to_ Purple Forest_. I did a gender reversal and (more or less) made this. It got a B+.

So...enjoy!

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><p><em>Have you ever heard the story of the Misty Forest…?<em>

_It appears like any other forest, except for the fact that a heavy purple mist surrounds the forest. Nobody knows how or why the mist goes through the forest the way it does. If you ask anybody living in the nearby village about it, they could only warn you about the dangers: anybody who steps foot into the forest is never seen again. _

_But that hasn't stopped a few brave souls from making the trek…_

Meiko stepped through the purple-colored forest with something akin to wonder. How beautiful this forest was! Everything was colored a different shade of purple: the leaves were a lovely indigo color, the ground was a dark purple…Even her jacket, which was a brilliant shade of red, was tinted purple. Perhaps that was the mist?

She frowned upon remembering the villager's warnings about this forest. What could possibly be so dangerous about this forest? It wasn't like there was a psycho killer out there…and besides, she was a castle messenger. This forest is the quickest way to her destination, and time was of the essence: if this message was not delivered by dawn, war would surely break out between the kingdoms of Spade and Daimond.

That was when she heard humming. The sound seemed to echo through the thick forest. Meiko didn't know the melody to the song, but it caused her to jump all the same. What if it was an assassin of some sort?

It was then that she realized that the humming came from behind her. Jumping around, the sight she was greeted with made her eyes widen in surprise.

It was a child! A young boy who couldn't be more than twelve years old! He was sitting at the base of a tree that appeared on the edge of falling over. The messenger wanted to back away from the boy, but there was something about him…

The boy seemed to notice her and smiled. Seeing his smile, the messenger forgot why she was so cautious.

"Hello," he said, getting up and walking towards her. "You look tired. Why don't you rest here, traveler?"

"Uh," Meiko replied. "I'd love to, but I can't. I have to deliver a message."

"Oh, so you're a castle messenger!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands in joy. "That's so cool! Can you tell me a story or two?"

"I don't know…" Meiko said, edging closer to the boy in spite of herself. "This message is pretty important."

The boy pouted. "Please? I get so bored sitting here by myself!"

That piqued Meiko's interest. She sat on a branch as she questioned, "You're alone? What about your parents?"

"I don't have parents," the boy said, balancing himself on a branch next to her. "I've been here for pretty much my entire life."

"But what about the dangers here?" She blurted. "I was at the nearby village about an hour ago and they kept warning me about something dangerous in here."

The boy seemed unabashed at this. "They don't know a thing!" he said. "If there really _was _something dangerous here, I wouldn't be here, would I?"

"I guess that's true…" Meiko mused. The boy grinned, sitting next to her.

"So what's your name? My name's Kaito!" he said, holding out his hand to her. Meiko glanced at the outstretched hand for a second. Should she really waste time here? Kaito noticed her uneasiness and grinned at her. Seeing that grin, any doubts left Meiko's mind.

"I'm Meiko," she replied, shaking his hand.

She had no idea how much time had passed since the two started talking. Nor did she really care. The two did all sorts of fun things: from playing hide-and-seek to singing and dancing to simply talking. As they sat in the base of the withered tree, Meiko glanced at the bare branches.

"This tree looks like it's dead," she mused. "You told me this was your favorite tree? Why?"

"Well," Kaito replied, "You just haven't seen it when it's alive!"

"When it's alive?" Meiko repeated, confused.

"Yep!" he answered, nodding. "The leaves are an amazing shade of purple and it becomes the greatest tree in the whole forest! And when it's alive, I'm not really lonely."

"So why is it like that now?"

"It's running low on food. I think if we give it really good food, it'll live longer."

Meiko shrugged: it hadn't rained for a long time, which must be why the tree was so weak. Besides, it was winter. The tree looked like it could collapse after another day in its condition.

"Want me to sing something?" Kaito suddenly asked. Meiko hesitated, and then nodded.

"Alright, but after this song I have to deliver the message," she replied, glancing at the bag hanging at her side.

Kaito nodded before singing a lullaby. Meiko didn't keep track of the lyrics: something about stardust and moonbeams.

At that moment Meiko began to feel sleepy. Something screamed at her to wake up and run far, far away from the tree and the boy with the melodic voice. But the mental voice was quieted by her desire to sleep. She closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep.

When he finished his song, Kaito glanced at Meiko. She had fallen asleep, her head on his shoulder. He smiled softly at this.

The next thing Meiko knew, Kaito was leading her by the hand somewhere. Everything was dark…how long was she asleep?

"Kaito?" she asked groggily.

"Come on," Kaito said. "Not too much farther now."

_What is he talking about? _Meiko thought when she saw a small glimmer of light. The light grew and eventually consumed the two of them. As Meiko's eyes adjusted to the light, she looked around.

Instead of purple mist, there was clear air. In fact, nothing in this new place was purple: all she could see was green grass and a crystal-clear lake. The place was basically a paradise rarely seen by humankind. She should be breath-taken, but there was something amiss…she had heard about something like this. But what about it tugged at her memory…?

"Hey," Kaito said, giving Meiko a serious look. "Let's stay here. Away from the world, away from everything. From what you told me, everything seems to be a crisis. Why not just stay here and not worry about all that?"

Meiko couldn't form any words. All she could do was stare back into the boy's dark blue eyes; the color of the sky on a cold winter's night. Kaito stepped closer to the dumbfounded young lady.

"We'll be together forever," he said in sing-song. "Just you, me…and the tree."

Realization and horror mixed together as the boy drew closer to her. She knew now who – or what - he was, and where they really were. He was a tree spirit; a sort of ghost that lures people to him. She had heard endless stories of foolish travelers being lured by their innocent nature and pure voices. And the people foolish enough to be lured this far – nobody knows if it was inside of the tree or the deepest part of the forest - were met with a terrifying fate.

But it was too late; he pressed his lips to hers and everything went black.

_Meiko was never seen in her destination. King Gakupo assumed that Queen Luka had Meiko killed, and so war was declared between the two kingdoms. Every day you could hear shouts and cries as lives were lost and shots were fired._

_The only one completely oblivious to this was the tree spirit living in the Purple Forest. _

_Sitting at the trunk of a large tree with leaves a most glorious shade of purple, Kaito continues to sing. As he sings, he watches everything going on in the forest and tries to make sense of humans these days: going to war over silly things. Those people who stumble into his forest are lucky: they don't have to deal with those kinds of things anymore. But it was lonely being by himself like this, so he allowed himself some sort of comfort: he would take a material possession of every victim and keep it with him. There was a glittering silver armlet, a black scarf, a pair of gray gloves…_

_…and a red jacket._

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><p>So what'd you think?<p>

Review, please!


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